Was Frankenstein a Scotsman?

Newcastle University postgraduate, Christoper Goulding, has suggested =
that=20
much of the medical inspiration for Mary Shelley's legendary novel=20
Frankenstein came not from central Europe, but from a retired =
Scots=20
physician living in Windsor.

His claims, which are based on his PhD research into the scientific =
interests=20
of the novelist's husband, the poet Percy Shelley, are published in an =
article=20
in the May edition of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Most criticism of Mary Shelley's much-interpreted novel has focused =
around=20
the moral and social issues it raises, with little attention having been =
paid to=20
the underlying medical science from which the story arises. As Goulding =
points=20
out, Mary Shelley owed much of her knowledge of science to her husband, =
whose=20
interest in medicine and chemistry had been awakened by a mysterious =
figure he=20
met whilst a schoolboy at Eton.

James Lind MD (1736-1812) lived in nearby Windsor whilst Percy =
Shelley was at=20
Eton, and was approved by the school as a suitable mentor for boys =
interested in=20
science. Lind was probably one of the first people in Britain to conduct =
electro-medical experiments to 'make dead frogs jump like living ones', =
and in=20
the 1790s had privately suggested the use of electric shocks to cure =
King George=20
III=92s apparent insanity. Lind=92s study was described as having =
'telescopes,=20
Galvanic batteries, daggers, electrical machines, and all the divers =
apparatus=20
which a philosopher is supposed to possess'. Shelley was later to say of =
his=20
mentor: 'I owe that man far =96 oh! Far more than I owe my father'.

Chris Goulding says of his article 'Mary Shelley=92s creation of =
Frankenstein=20
was a work of genius, but the novel=92s science comes, via her husband, =
from the=20
Scottish Enlightenment'

This press release was issued by the Royal Society of Medicine, and =
is=20
reproduced here with their kind permission. To view Christopher =
Goulding's=20
article in full, please see the Royal Society of Medicine website http://www.rsm.ac.uk/press